Italian polyphonic music in the fourteenth century has been likened to a “dazzling meteor,” flaming into existence then disappearing abruptly with fireworks spent.

One of the most important towns in medieval Italy is republican Florence which rose to prominence in the middle of the 14th century. With its distinct style of music and text, (Boccaccio, Soldanieri and others), compositions of Francesco Landini, Gherardello da Firenze, Don Paolo da Firenze, Laurentius da Firenze, and Jacopo da Bologna stand out as jewels of the repertoire.

Beyond this sparkling body of polyphony and song was a shadow world of many Jewish musicians and dance-masters who lived in Italy at the time. Alongside the elaborate polyphonic music and flashy dances they would play, sing, dance and teach, they composed hauntingly beautiful music for the synagogue. Some of the most beautiful piyutim, from Achot Ketanah for the High Holidays to Maoz Tzur for Hanukkah reappear in the secular music of the same era and continue to be sung in services today. Please join us in welcoming two Basel-based guest artists – Doron Schleifer of Profeti della Quinta and Corina Marti of La Morra – for this special ecumenical concert of stunning late-Medieval repertoire.

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Countertenor Doron Schleifer performs regularly with the Schola Cantorum Nürnberg, directed by Pia Praetorius; with Ensemble La Morra (with which he recently recorded a CD), and with La Capella Reial de Catalunya, conducted by Jordi Savall. He is a member of the Thalamus Vocal Quartet and the all-male vocal ensemble Profeti della Quinta, with which he recently won the York Early Music International Young Artist Competition. With Profeti della Quinta he has recorded a CD of Jewish liturgical works by Salamone Rossi. In addition, he recorded two CDs as a soloist: the first one, with the Basel Baroque Consort, containing Christian liturgical pieces from 17th century Italy; and the second CD, as the Evangelist in the St. John's Passion by Francesco Feo, with the Italian baroque orchestra La Divina Armonia, conducted by Lorenzo Ghielmi.

Mr. Schleifer began singing as a boy-soloist in the synagogue of the Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem, where his father, Eliyahu Schleifer, served as Cantor. He graduated the High School of the Jerusalem Academy of Music (piano with Yitzhak Kosov and composition with Irena Svetova). He studied voice with Miriam Meltzer and Zvi Semel at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he won the first prize in the Baroque-music performance. He has been a recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships for a number of years. Later on, Doron continued his master studies in Basel, at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where he studies with Evelyn Tubb, Anthony Rooley, Gerd Türk and Andreas Scholl.

Doron sang at the Jerusalem Boys Choir under the direction of Jonathan Lesser and later in the Domino Vocal Ensemble. In Israel he sang with the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, and Barrocade Collective, and the international ensemble Qui Regna Amore. In addition to his activity as singer, Doron is the conductor and musical director of the Basel Synagogue Choir. Founded more than 80 years ago, it is the only choir in Europe to have existed without interruption over the Second World War and the holocaust, preserving its traditions till the present day.

Corina Marti’s performances have been praised as ‘strikingly superior and expressive’ (Toccata) and ‘infallible’ (Diapason). After graduating in Baroque music performance on the recorder and harpsichord from the Lucerne Academy of Music, she focused on early flutes and Late Medieval / Early Renaissance repertoire, in which she gained a degree from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basle (Switzerland) under the guidance of Pierre Hamon and Kathrin Bopp.

Corina Marti has extensively performed, recorded and taught Late Medieval and Early Renaissance repertoires throughout Europe, the Middle East and the USA. In 2003, she was invited to join the faculty of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis as a tutor for early flutes and keyboard instruments. Her performances on these instruments and research into their history and construction have contributed to their revival among performers.

She also enjoys later repertoires, appearing as soloist and together with chamber music formations and orchestras (including Jordi Savall’s Hesperion XXI and La Capella Reial de Cataluña) performing Renaissance, Baroque and contemporary repertoire.

With ensemble La Morra, of which she is co-director, Corina Marti has recorded several enthusiastically received CDs of fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century music (including the complete works of Johannes Ciconia, awarded Diapason d’Or, and Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). Her ongoing interest in the earliest instrumental music has resulted in a CD release devoted to German repertoire of the late fifteenth- / early sixteenth-century (Von edler Art, Ramée, 2008, together lutenist with Michal Gondko) and in her first solo CD: I dilettosi fiori, 14th century music for clavisimbalum and recorders. Her discography of post-1500 music includes recordings devoted to Early Baroque instrumental music from Lombardy, music by the Italian-Jewish composer Salomone Rossi (1570-c1630), flute sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach and – most recently – flute concertos by Francesco Mancini.